Barry Robson’s Stark’s Park debut failed to go according to plan as Raith Rovers crashed to a home defeat to John McGlynn’s Falkirk.
The Bairns were clearly determined to avenge their Scottish Cup defeat at the hands of Raith six days previously.
And there was the small matter of dedicating the victory to assistant manager Paul Smith, the former Rovers number two and free-scoring striker, who suffered a heart attack in the wake of their cup loss.
An early goal from Liam Henderson and a second-half strike from Ross MacIver kept the league leaders top of the Championship and left the Kirkcaldy hosts in seventh in the table.
Courier Sport was on hand to assess where it all went wrong for Robson’s side.
Slow starters
Raith found themselves behind after just five minutes against a Falkirk team without a win in their previous three games.
Rovers were buoyed by their cup triumph and on home soil for the first time with Robson at the helm.
But it was the Bairns who came flying out the traps to take the lead with Henderson’s sixth-minute header.
Unfortunately, losing so early appears to becoming something of a habit for the Kirkcaldy side.
In each of their last four defeats they have conceded inside the first six minutes, as well as in the draw with Partick Thistle in November.
In Robson’s first game in charge, there was little over a minute on the clock when George Oakley netted, whilst in the last league meeting of the teams, Alfie Agyeman had Falkirk ahead in the fifth minute.
Meanwhile, against Morton in mid-November, under Neill Collins, Filip Stuparevic gave the Cappielow men the advantage after just five minutes.
When the first goal is so important, and when Championship matches are notoriously tight, Raith have to be at it right from the off.
Aerial frailties
In terms of the key moments in the game, Robson was right in saying the defeat to Falkirk was down to one set-play and one calamitous error.
And he was also on the money when he said that ‘set-plays have been a problem here’ prior to his arrival.
Brad Spencer’s in-swinging free-kick delivery from the left was superb but Raith will still feel they could have prevented it ending in a goal.
Liam Dick jumped and missed the ball and Scott Brown was then beaten to the bounce by a more determined Henderson.
A susceptibility to crosses – whether from set-pieces or open play – has been a familiar tale.
In Robson’s debut, Ayr scored from a low cut-back, a corner and a cross, whilst two of Falkirk’s three goals in the league defeat last month came from crosses.
In the reverse against Morton, the Greenock outfit netted from a corner and from a low cross that followed a throw-in.
It is not like Rovers lack experience in defence.
At the heart of their rearguard against Falkirk were a 31-year-old (Euan Murray), a 29-year-old (Liam Dick) and a 35-year-old (Paul Hanlon).
Perhaps they would argue more needs to be done to stop the crosses from wide and to ensure set-pieces are not conceded too easily close to their own goal.
But, at times, Raith appear to lack the kind of determined defending that requires bodies on the line and sticking heads on anything to prevent goals.
Role reversal
Falkirk were always going to come out fighting after Raith’s cup success against their Championship rivals.
That was the Bairns’ first defeat on home soil for nearly a year and, following Smith’s ill health, they had plenty of motivation to turn the tables.
What was most surprising was they did it with the most un-John McGlynn-like performance for a long time.
Falkirk scrapped hard for everything, committed niggly fouls, launched long balls forward, wasted as much time as they could – and got the job done.
Rovers have produced some of their most significant results when they themselves have had their backs to the wall.
Like August’s 1-0 win over Partick Thistle with John Potter in charge following Ian Murray’s shock sacking and dishing out Falkirk’s first league defeat in nearly 18 months back in September.
And the 2-0 victory over Dunfermline last month when they had lost the previous Fife derby and were fresh from a terrible performance in the 3-0 defeat to Falkirk.
Also, the 2-1 triumph over Livingston in the first game following the surprise departure of Neill Collins.
Whatever the psychology or tactical tweaks that lay behind those performances, Raith need to find ways of peaking more consistently.
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